Teacher accused of 'cultural appropriation' for using $5 Kmart homewares item

"Calling it appropriation is a big stretch," someone said. 

A childcare educator recently found herself caught up in a controversy after she was accused of cultural appropriation for using a Kmart tea towel during one of her lessons.

The woman shared in a post to the Tea Time Facebook group that she runs a music program for kids and during a food-themed session, she had the children sit on Kmart tea towels, using them as mini picnic rugs.

The $5 Kmart tea towels, are available in red, black, and blue, and feature a checkered pattern and come in a pack of 10.

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The Kmart tea towel debacle

"We all sat [on them] and learnt about different foods," she explained in the post.

"I had another educator really upset about this being cultural appropriation and to not use that again in a session."

The poster said she wasn't looking to "argue if it is or isn’t cultural appropriation but rather to gain an understanding of how it is so I’m sensitive to it in future."

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"It's a tea towel..."

The group quickly jumped in with their thoughts and various opinions on the matter.

"This world is too sensitive," one person commented, summing up what many others seemed to feel.

"It's a tea towel... I'm done with this world," claimed someone else.

"I'm really confused... other than the fact that these tea towels suck at being tea towels, but that's irrelevant," another person added.

"Sorry, I'm dumb, what culture is it appropriating?" someone else asked, echoing the confusion of the poster.

Another group member suggested that the issue might have arisen because the tea towels vaguely resemble keffiyehs, traditional Middle Eastern scarves.

"I think she was confused because they look like keffiyehs a tiny bit, but calling it appropriation is a big stretch," they said.

Someone replied: "This was my first thought too, especially with everything with Palestine happening. But it was a tea towel, not an actual Keffiyeh, regardless of the resemblance, this would have me feeling so confused and conflicted too."

A different user wrote: "While I can't speak for your coworker, I can see how this could be seen as culturally insensitive.

"In Māori culture, this would break tikanga as the tea towels are used for food/food prep. Similar to how it's not ok to sit at tables."

Tikanga, or societal lore within Māori culture, is a set of behavioural guidelines for living and interacting with others.

Someone else made the point that the other teacher should have explained her reasoning before making the appropriation claim.

They said, "If she is going to make such a bold claim that then reflects on your character and what you are teaching these kids - it's her responsibility to then explain and hopefully educate as to why that would be insensitive."

Originally published as Teacher accused of 'cultural appropriation' for using $5 Kmart homewares item